The Fall
by ArbiterTheFirst
Summary: Humanity has begun the fall. The descent to extinction. How can a normal college student manage to survive in this hellish landscape? Is he even able to?
1. Chapter 1

Well everyone, I decided to start work on this fanfic after much deliberation. This is going to be about an OC and well, you're gonna have to read it to find out more about him.

I will only say this once throughout the entire fanfiction; I do not own Left 4 Dead, any of the special infected, nor the general idea of the apocalypse that is in this world. That belongs to Valve and anyone else who was involved in creating Left 4 Dead.

_Through the doorway, turn left. _

_Run down the hall._

_Hallway splits. Goes straight and to the left. _

_Which way?_

_Stop._

_Check left. Check straight._

_Straight leads to elevator lobby. Left to a fire. Witch is moaning. Probably from elevator lobby. _

_Go left._

_Sprint. _

_Jump over fire. Keep running._

_Get out of here!_

_Ignore pain. Muscles screaming for rest. Can't go too much further._

_Get to emergency stairwell._

_Get in. Close door. Check for infected. Are there any here?_

_No._

_Take breather. Catch breath._

His mind raced as he ran through the hotel, attempting to escape from the hordes of infected that were chasing him, seeking his blood, his flesh, his life. Never before had he run so fast or so desperately. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins, calling speed to his flight. This is what he had been searching for his entire life. For 21 years he had been searching for something, and this was it. The exhilaration of fighting to live, of stretching your mind and body to its limits to save yourself, in which the reward was continuing, and the painful failure would be death.

He smiled, panting through his teeth as his muscles recuperated. After four years of prepping for a disaster scenario, he finally got his wish. The zombie apocalypse. As horrible as it was, it was also a blessing in disguise for the world in his mind. Humanity had been choking the life out of it for centuries. It gave them everything and they gave back nothing. Relaxing, he let his head hit the door and slid down so he was sitting. Finally the status quo was arranged correctly. No longer was it those who were born to rich families, or those who schemed, or manipulated their way to power and for money, no longer did they rule. Now it was those who were physically and mentally capable, those who knew the rules and how to survive by bending and obeying them.

Hefting the pistol, he mentally calculated how much ammunition he had. _Forty one rounds in four magazines. Five in this one, three others full with twelve each._ It was enough for a good amount of infected. Luckily, headshots were guaranteed one hit kills. While granted, unloading into their bodies could have the same kill, it took way too many bullets and he didn't have the time to waste on all the infected. He needed to find a secure location, and fast. Night was falling, and he did not want to be caught out there when it got dark.

Getting to his feet, he moved to the handrail in the middle of the stairwell. Looking up, he noted about seven flights of stairs above him, about six floors or so assuming the last was a roof access. Glancing down, he counted ten flights of stairs.

He moved back before anything happened to notice him looking over the edge. Six flights up and ten down. Which way did he want to go. Cursing silently in his head, he thought through the pros and cons of each decision. He hated not having a partner or two with him. They usually have some insight as to which decision he should or shouldn't make. Going down meant that the number of infected could easily increase, due to street access, but going up could get him trapped. Taking a risk, he cracked the emergency door open slightly. Looking back into the hallway he just ran through, he noted the dying fire and burnt corpses on the ground. Apparently, the piling of bodies managed to smother the majority of the fire. A few stumbling infected still roamed the hall, so he quickly closed the door before they took notice of him.

_Chance of fire, low._

_Chance of death by fire or smoke inhalation, low._

_Choices: go up or down._

_Decision, go up, barricade stairwell, clear floor, hope for the best._

He exhaled slowly, forcing his heart rate and blood pressure down. Standing, he calmly walked up the stairs, taking care to place his feet silently onto the concrete and metal stairs. He encountered a single body on his journey upwards, about three flights up from where he entered. After quickly kicking the body flat on the ground and crushing the head with a curb stomp, he searched the corpse for anything useful. All he found was a wallet and half a pack of tic tacs. Sighing, he placed the tic tacs down and rifled through the wallet, taking the twenty dollars out of it and putting the wallet back. He once again continued his trek upstairs.

He reached the second to last floor. Holding the pistol he found in one hand, he opened the door slowly. Glancing around the door frame, he took note of his situation.

_Large hallway. Same as previous one._

_Ends in a T five doors down. _

_Five rooms on left. Four doors intact. One left ajar._

_Zero infected._

_Windows on right side of hallway. All unbroken._

_Sounds of shuffling._

_Infected are on the floor._

_Where? _

_Search fourth room with door ajar first. _

_Check watch. Time is 5:25:39._

_MOVE._

He darted out of the stairwell. Keeping low with the pistol in front of him, he rapidly traversed the expanse of hallway between him and the fourth room. He stopped just in front of it, leaning against the frame of the door and peeking inside. His perspective changed as a massive surge of adrenaline hit his brain.

_Inside room clear no infected move in keep to wall closet closed chance of finding infected there slim to none shuffling louder than when in stairwell infected either here or further down room opens up four-no five feet ahead move up check right side nothing living room blood staining both carpet and walls pistol is loaded and ready is the safety off? safety off move forward go to room check inside nothing here so far bathroom located to the right again shuffling louder now move to left to put space between possible hostile and self door to bathroom closed opens outwards damn handle on right side of door open it with left hand holding pistol at head height swing door open rapidly and one shot to possible hostile head. chance of there being multiple infected low but there five bullets five infected unlikely calm down prepare to move open the door NOW!_

He swung the door open and was greeted with the back of an infected's head. It moved up, taken by surprise at the sudden opening of the door. It didn't have a chance to turn around as he delivered one shot directly to the rear of the skull, sending a bullet into it's head, obliterating the brain, and making it drop like a rock.

He sighed and listened, hoping the retort from the pistol hadn't alerted any other infected to his presence. Thunder boomed outside the building, making him turn. Checking his watch, he noted the time was now 5:26:11. A little over thirty seconds had passed from when he left the stairwell. He shook his head, growling. He needed to be faster. Twenty seconds should have been more than enough for that. Hefting the pistol, he moved out of the room. He crept up to the T where the hall split left and right. He looked out and checked both sides. There didn't appear to be anything to his left, where the elevator lobby for this floor was located. No shuffling, squelching, ripping, growling, or tearing. No noise from over there. The right side didn't offer much either. The thunder made it difficult to discern whether or not there was anything in that direction but he wasn't going to find out today.

Cautiously walking over to his left, he looked into the small lobby. Nothing was there except for a couple of trashcans and a bench. He quickly grabbed the bench and dragged it over to where the fifth door he originally had seen was. Dropping it, he went back and brought over the two trashcans. He looked at them and nodded. This would be the start of a small barrier to hopefully prevent some infected from surprising him in the night. He searched the adjacent rooms. Nothing except the usual hotel furniture was left in the fifth, fourth, and third rooms. The second one was loaded with lots of suitcases. He assumed it was a typical American family. He shook his head. Apparently nobody except their family owned a washing machine. Seriously, how many suitcases did a three bed hotel room require? How many people were sleeping there?

He opened the first door, the one closest to the stairwell and was immediately overwhelmed with the stench of death and decay. Gagging, he covered his face with a handkerchief he carried in his pocket and that only helped marginally. Moving through the room, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he walked into the main bedroom.

The corpse of two women, their gender obvious by their clothing, were laying in each others arms, holding each other close. Tears crept up into his eyes. They couldn't handle this world and preferred to go out together than try to brave it. He then noticed something odd. One had her head in the other's chest, her arms wrapped around her waist, with a hole in her head. Moving closer, he noticed the second woman's head was tilted backwards slightly. He cocked his head to the side and noticed both the pistol and the hole in her forehead. Upon closer examination of the first woman, a bite on her shoulder became obvious to him.

He concluded that the first woman had been bitten and they both must have seen the effects of a bite. The second one shot the first one, then took her own life. It was sad to him, but then again, this world was no longer for everyone. Some people, he knew, just couldn't handle it.

He picked up the gun and searched the women for ammunition, then wrapped their bodies in a sheet and took them to the balcony.

_I'm sorry._

He tosses them over the railing, watching the bundle fall to the pavement below. He hated desecrating their bodies, but they were dead and he didn't want to get sick from their rotting corpses. It was simply a matter of keeping himself safe. He would have preferred to either bury or cremate them, but he had the resources to do neither.

An hour later, he had built a large, thick barricade in the hallway and barricaded the door to the stairwell. He smiled and nodded, satisfied with his handiwork. Dragging himself into the third room, he sat down, relaxing for the first time that day. After the rude awakening at 5 in the fucking morning, he was glad to be able to sit down comfortably.

He jumped up, realizing he forgot about food for the morning. Running to the fridge in room three, he ripped open the door and was greeted with a lot of nothing. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting such a simple need. Racing around he went to the fourth, fifth, and second room with no luck except for a couple bottles of water and some tea packs. The first room that still smelled of decay was the jackpot. He cried out with joy when he saw the fully stocked fridge and pantry. He hauled everything he could out of the room and took it back to the third room and put it all into the fridge and pantry. It was enough dried food and packaged stuff to last him at least two weeks with proper rationing. He decided that tomorrow he would shower properly. Hopefully the hot water was still functional. It should be in theory, since the power was still working properly.

He laid down on the mattress he dragged onto the floor in the living room and rested his head to sleep. He put his pistols on the floor next to him and set his watch to wake him every other hour. He didn't want to fall into a deep sleep and not realize that an infected was turning him into a midnight snack until it was too late. He stared at the ceiling, wondering how the friends he got separated from were doing. He continued wondering and thinking until sleep finally took him.

Well there we go. My first attempt at a complete original character. PLEASE R&R I would love to know how you guys react to my new character and if you want to read more of my work go check out Elemental Rosario a fanfiction of Rosario+Vampire! Thanks and again, R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Ok it seems like not many people have noticed this story yet, probably because I decided not to include any of the main characters from the game. Dammit I want this to be read by many! With lots of reviews!

**XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXx xXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX**

He woke with a start in the middle of the night. Rain drummed against the window, making it hard to hear anything. Looking around wildly, he searched for whatever had woken him up so quickly. A thump on the glass door leading to the balcony made him start and turn quickly, his breath sucking in sharply.

Outside on the balcony was a creature he had never seen before. The normal infected were bad enough but now there was a new danger apparently. It was the size of an average man, about 6 feet tall. Gas was floating around its head, with large boils on its left shoulder and two tentacle like... things coming out if it. Lightning flashed, revealing it for a split second, which was all he needed to memorize what the creature was and what it could possibly do. The tentacles were tongues, the larger of the two coming from the once human mouth and writhing around. Listening closely, he could hear heavy coughing and wheezing coming from the balcony.

_Maybe it makes that sound all the time. It doesn't seem to be doing it intentionally. All that gas seems to be coming out of him. Could it possibly be screwing his respiratory system up? But wait, why do zombies need to breathe in the first damn place? _

As quietly as possible, he slid off the mattress he had lain on the floor. He picked up both pistols that he had acquired the previous day. Moving slowly, trying to keep from being noticed, he slid over to the wall. He didn't want to shoot out the glass door. It would make too much noise and he wouldn't be able to use this room anymore. He crouched behind an armchair, mostly hidden from sight. Checking his pistols, he noted that both were fully loaded.

The creature outside his window coughed and wheezed as it slowly shuffled across the balcony, its tongue whipping and slapping against the window, making him shudder with the sound. He couldn't believe his eyes as the creature suddenly jumped onto the railing and climbed up to the next floor with a shocking display of agility. This presented an entirely new problem. He would now not only have to worry about the infected on the ground, but more climbing up walls and dropping down on him. And he didn't like the way that tongue was moving. Not one bit.

Glancing at his watch, he noted he was surprised to see that it was almost six in the morning. It was nearly time for him to start packing things up to prepare for the day. As he picked up the mattress and placed it discreetly against the wall, he thought about what he should do today. It wasn't a smart idea for him to just leave and go wandering the streets, hoping to find a safer place and shelter. For now at least, he should probably stay where he was. The sound of alarms could be discerned between the drumming of the rain and cracks of thunder, making him wary of what could be happening on the roads.

But while he was nervous to go venture out on the roads, his heart cried out in his chest to run out and search. He knew she would probably be fine. She was in the care of his best friend and most trusted companion, but he still couldn't help but think about all the ways something could go wrong. Accidentally falling, misfire, stupid people, ammo depletion, there were so many things that could go wrong it was driving him crazy.

He slammed his fists down into the couch that was in the living room of the hotel suite. Memories flashed back into his mind.

_Fear pushing me and the woman in front of myself forward. My hand was on the small of her back, urging her to go faster. My friend stood atop the M113 armored personnel carrier, or M113 APC, firing three round bursts from a crouching position into the horde behind us._

_I started to look behind me. "Don't look, run to the APC!" He yelled, firing another couple of bursts. I heard the sounds of something cracking, a sickening squelching, and heavy thuds. I hoped that those were the sounds of him hitting the things behind us and not something worse. Then the worst possible thing happened._

_She tripped._

_Time seemed to slow down as it happened. I noticed at the edge of my vision, her right foot twisted strangely under her leg. She must've slipped on a body part or something. Her entire body arched forward and she started to fall. Slowing down slightly, I did the one thing I could. I wrapped my arms around her body and hefted her up into my arms, and ran as hard as I could. Without looking, I could tell she was surprised by the sudden tensing of her body. _

_I can feel the desperation pushing me. I no longer have any fear for myself. I have to get her to safety. I have to make sure she lives. _

_The adrenaline hit my brain. I can almost feel it affecting my body. Leaning forward, I forced myself to move faster, closer to the APC. I leapt over the razor wire barrier that the army had hastily erected. Crashing down onto the ground, I hadn't predicted the effect her weight would have on my landing. My legs crumpled. No damage, no pain. My mind entered a state that I had been in once before._

_Force too great to support. _

_Keep her safe._

_Roll._

_Arch body over hers, use legs to convert downward momentum to forwards force._

_Angle force slightly above zero degrees._

_Ten degrees should do it._

_Arch upwards and curve over her._

_Use her weight as a pivot._

_Left shoulder into ground._

_Impact. _

_Tiles jolting shoulder, slightly painful. Arc not timed well._

_Continue rolling._

_Contact with ground from left shoulder to right hip._

_Not down spine._

_Across._

_Halfway through. Recovery?_

_Two options._

_Both feet underneath. Use dominant right leg to push off, forcing myself up and forward. Possibility of stumbling. _

_Keep right leg underneath me, extend left leg. Use left leg as brake to halt forward momentum, then use right leg to push up and off, moving again. Loss of movement: 100%_

_Use first option._

_I tucked my legs underneath me, and once I felt I was in the opportune position, pushed off hard with my right leg. Lady Luck must have been on my side because it was executed perfectly. I kept running towards the APC. As I neared it, something must have changed. With the adrenaline still affecting my brain, it seemed like the rate at which my friend was firing increased slightly. Glancing up at him, I thought his eyes looked wider than before. As if something surprised him. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder._

_They were running after me still. The ones in the middle and back of the horde had used the ones in front to smother the razor wire and were using them as ramps to cross over it safely. My heart rate and blood pressure spiked. I could feel every panicked beat of my heart as it threatened to burst through my ribcage and out my chest. There were so many of them. There was no way that we could make it out of here, even if we were in the APC. My mind raced as I thought of every possible scenario and only one solution was viable. _

_I smiled, though I felt sad. This was the last gift I could give her. I called to my friend. He looked at me, questioning the look I had on my face I assumed._

"_Catch!" _

_Was the only thing I yelled to him as I put all my strength into throwing her up to him. He caught her and tumbled back onto the APC. _

"_RUN!" I yelled._

_He stood up, her sitting next to his feet. "Not without you!"_

_I shook my head. I knew he was going to do this. That's why we valued each other. But I had to give her the best chance to escape and live. "Get her out of here! That's all I can do for her! And you! Get in and run!"_

_I turned, not listening to either of them cry my name as I looked around. I saw a passage leading off to the left of the hotel, towards the elevators and stair. Screaming like a banshee or at least what I assume a banshee would sound like, I ran towards the passageway. I could feel the thunder of their feet drumming against the ground as they ran towards me. Sound apparently attracts them. _

Growling, he hit the wall next to him and dried the tears from his eyes. Those memories were painful. He couldn't think about leaving her now. His heart ached with longing. She calmed him, soothed him, gave him a purpose in life. Without her he felt so very lost. Today, he had to make this level of the building as secure as possible. There were lots of rooms, lots of things to keep him distracted. A smile slowly grew upon his face. This was his time. He would survive and create a new life for himself. Looking up sharply, a fire burned in his eyes.

He would live on.

He would conquer this world.

And most importantly, he would do it...

With her at his side.

**XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXx xXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX**

OK well that was fun. R&R people like always. Visit my profile for my other story Elemental Rosario if you want to and spread the word please!


End file.
